An optical coupler is an optical device that may have a single light input and one or more light outputs. An optical star coupler (or splitter) generally has N (N≧2) outputs, and is often referred to as a 1×N star coupler. It can be used in applications to distribute a stream of data from a single source to multiple outputs.
Where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the drawings to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Moreover, some of the blocks depicted in the drawings may be combined into a single function.